An Amentum-led Department of Energy contractor at the Hanford Site in Washington state is starting to remove radioactive waste from single-shell Tank A-101 and transfer it to a newer double-shell tank, DOE said in a Tuesday press release.
Removal began of the 325,000 gallons of radioactive and chemical waste in Hanford’s A Tank Farm a month after Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) emptied the 21st single-shell tank at the former plutonium production complex. So far, roughly 3 million gallons have been moved from single-shell to double-shell tanks at Hanford, DOE said in the release.
The A Tank Farm includes a half-dozen 1950s-era tanks. Tank A-101 has primarily salt-based, solid waste and work crews will use pressurized water and robotic equipment to pump out the waste, DOE said in the release. The Tank A-101 project could take roughly 18 months, DOE said in the release.
WRPS, made up of Amentum and Atkins has a contract currently valued at $10 billion, which started in June 2008 and is currently scheduled to run through September.
Hanford has roughly 56 million gallons of radioactive and chemical waste held in 177 underground tanks. Of those, 148 are single-shell tanks, some of which have leaked. The waste is a byproduct of decades of plutonium production for nuclear weapons.
In 2025, DOE is scheduled to start solidifying some of its less-radioactive tank waste into a glass form at the Bechtel-built Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant.
